--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You really struggle to be a successful…" description: "\"You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.\" — Niall Ferguson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png" --- # You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are… ![“You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.” quote by Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png) > “You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.” [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A state that is heavily indebted cannot sustain power; fiscal responsibility is essential for empire stability. **In simple terms:** Debt weakens empires. Key Takeaway Prioritize fiscal health. Themes economics political power debt sustainability Mood analytical cautious Type historical economic When to use this quote - government budgeting - corporate finance - personal debt planning Key Concepts Imperial decline financial risk management Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance debt and growth? - What safeguards prevent fiscal collapse? A Different Perspective Debt can be leveraged wisely. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Debtors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debtors/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [In the feudal times, a successful empire exist not only because of the King's judgement himself. 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I really have to struggle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/i-m-one-of-the-world-s-most-self-conscious-people-i-really-have-to/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [I've had so much stress in the last year so it's really a struggle. I never hide, when I walk down the street, someone's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carnie-wilson/i-ve-had-so-much-stress-in-the-last-year-so-it-s-really-a-struggle-i/) [Carnie Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carnie-wilson/) > [I'll be honest with you, I really struggle with the conversation around gun control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-garza/i-ll-be-honest-with-you-i-really-struggle-with-the-conversation/) [Alicia Garza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-garza/) > [I never had to pound the pavement and really struggle after college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moira-kelly/i-never-had-to-pound-the-pavement-and-really-struggle-after-college/) [Moira Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moira-kelly/) > [I really struggle to fight and say lines at the same time. 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I really struggle not only to break 80,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-nantz/people-think-i-can-really-play-golf-but-it-s-actually-been-almost-an/) [Jim Nantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-nantz/) > [Miyazaki has a great talent, but I really struggle every time I create a new film and am far from Miyazaki.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/makoto-shinkai/miyazaki-has-a-great-talent-but-i-really-struggle-every-time-i-create/) [Makoto Shinkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/makoto-shinkai/) > [When you really struggle at one thing, you don't take it for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jabari-parker/when-you-really-struggle-at-one-thing-you-don-t-take-it-for-granted/) [Jabari Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jabari-parker/) > [I really struggle to get up in the morning, but I also get my best ideas really late at night, when I'm trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-nesbitt/i-really-struggle-to-get-up-in-the-morning-but-i-also-get-my-best/) [Nina Nesbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-nesbitt/) > [I really struggle with discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-james/i-really-struggle-with-discipline/) [Janelle James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-james/) ## More by Niall Ferguson > [“I wrote this book because I had formed a strong impression that the people currently living were paying insufficient attention to the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-wrote-this-book-because-i-had-formed-a-strong-impression-that-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Consider this: the US economy created 2.4 million jobs in the three years beginning in June 2009. In the same period, 3.3 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/consider-this-the-us-economy-created-2-4-million-jobs-in-the-three/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Is it better today to be in a network, which gives you influence, than in a hierarchy, which gives you power?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/is-it-better-today-to-be-in-a-network-which-gives-you-influence-than/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [As a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/as-a-teacher-my-strategy-is-to-encourage-questioning-i-m-the-least/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [Ask me not, 'Are you rightwing,' but ask me 'Are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment?' Then, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/ask-me-not-are-you-rightwing-but-ask-me-are-you-a-committed-believer/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Many historians still tend to assume that the spread of an idea or an ideology is a function of its inherent content in relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/many-historians-still-tend-to-assume-that-the-spread-of-an-idea-or-an/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“the twentieth century ran a series of experiments, imposing quite different institutions on two sets of Germans (in West and East), two sets of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-twentieth-century-ran-a-series-of-experiments-imposing-quite/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Historians are not scientists. They cannot (and should not even trying to) establish universal laws of social or political "physics" with reliable predictive powers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/historians-are-not-scientists-they-cannot-and-should-not-even-trying/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“One difficulty is that we cannot always reconstruct the past thoughts of these non-Western peoples, for not all of them existed in civilizations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/one-difficulty-is-that-we-cannot-always-reconstruct-the-past-thoughts/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [If young men have jobs - or the prospects of jobs - they are less likely to take up arms, they are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/if-young-men-have-jobs-or-the-prospects-of-jobs-they-are-less-likely/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think that it is important to be gregarious, and that friendships are not just a leisure pursuit, that they are an integral part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-that-it-is-important-to-be-gregarious-and-that-friendships/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“The question was simply this: Would the world be French or British?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-question-was-simply-this-would-the-world-be-french-or-british/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“it is not ‘Eurocentrism’ or (anti-)‘Orientalism’ to say that the rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/it-is-not-eurocentrism-or-anti-orientalism-to-say-that-the-rise-of/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [Today, the average Korean works a thousand hours more a year than the average German. A thousand. ... That is the end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/today-the-average-korean-works-a-thousand-hours-more-a-year-than-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) [Explore all 124 Niall Ferguson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ## More Debtors quotes > [Perhaps the most important reason to be skeptical of government inflation numbers is that the government, like a fox campaigning to guard a hen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/perhaps-the-most-important-reason-to-be-skeptical-of-government/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [The Bible says forgive your debtors; the world says "sue them for their dough."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-sunday/the-bible-says-forgive-your-debtors-the-world-says-sue-them-for-their/) [Billy Sunday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-sunday/) > [The creditor whose appearance gladdens the heart of a debtor may hold his head in sunbeams and his foot on storms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-creditor-whose-appearance-gladdens-the-heart-of-a-debtor-may-hold/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Ah, fortune and fame shall follow me ... and I shall dwell in the world of the chosen for a few moments of fleeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/ah-fortune-and-fame-shall-follow-me-and-i-shall-dwell-in-the-world-of/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [The aim of New Deals is to exterminate the class of creditors and thrust all men into that of debtors. It is like trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-aim-of-new-deals-is-to-exterminate-the-class-of-creditors-and/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“IMF is really designed to protect creditors not debtors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/imf-is-really-designed-to-protect-creditors-not-debtors/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-debtors-to-every-man-to-give-him-the-gospel-in-the-same/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Were a stranger to drop on a sudden into this world, I would show him, as a specimen of its ills, a hospital full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/were-a-stranger-to-drop-on-a-sudden-into-this-world-i-would-show-him/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Not everyone is a debtor who wishes to be; not everyone who wishes makes creditors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/not-everyone-is-a-debtor-who-wishes-to-be-not-everyone-who-wishes/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [A father who is a chronic debtor, an adulterous mother, a beautiful wife, and an unlearned son are enemies in one's own home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-father-who-is-a-chronic-debtor-an-adulterous-mother-a-beautiful/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [Grace finds us beggars but leaves us debtors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-toplady/grace-finds-us-beggars-but-leaves-us-debtors/) [Augustus Toplady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-toplady/) > [When we are exalted by ideas, we do not owe this to Plato, but to the idea, to which also Plato was debtor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/when-we-are-exalted-by-ideas-we-do-not-owe-this-to-plato-but-to-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [So long as there is a human being who does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/so-long-as-there-is-a-human-being-who-does-not-know-jesus-christ-i-am/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [We are a debtor nation, and we owe now $19 trillion and it's going to go up very fast by the way from this point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-are-a-debtor-nation-and-we-owe-now-19-trillion-and-it-s-going-to/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [All men are interdependent. Every nation is an heir of a vast treasury of ideas and labor to which both the living and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/all-men-are-interdependent-every-nation-is-an-heir-of-a-vast-treasury/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Browse all 100 Debtors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debtors/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Niall Ferguson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Debtors" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/niall-ferguson-3627_debtors_you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-e_243931.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.” — Niall Ferguson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Niall Ferguson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You really struggle to be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```